October 9: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN 1937, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Ronald Reagan and Director Lloyd Bacon are among the film people who are members of Army and Naval reserve with orders to stand by in event of military maneuvers.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1944, the Eagle reported, “Mayor [Fiorello] LaGuardia will lead 10,000 city employees up 5th Ave., Manhattan, in one of the biggest Columbus Day parades ever staged in this city. More than 50,000 are expected to be in the marching line, which will start at 44th St. at 1 p.m. and continue to 84th St. Most of the civil service workers in the parade will be members of the various uniformed services. They will include an estimated 4,000 Department of Sanitation workers, 2,500 policemen, 1,500 firemen and 1,000 Board of Transportation employees. Prominent in the youth group will be students from Lafayette High School.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1947, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON (U.P.) — Aerial narcotics smugglers are successfully eluding U.S. customs border patrols by flying their illicit cargoes in speedy surplus fighter planes at high altitudes, a high official said today. One of the reasons for the smugglers’ success, said Edson J. Shamhart, chief of the Custom Bureau’s Division of Investigation and Patrol, is that the bureau does not have a single plane in service along the Mexican border. ‘The only way to halt this illegal traffic would be at the source, that is, south of the border,’ Shamhart said. He explained that this could be accomplished by wider use of tipsters who would watch every airport, landing strip and air park deep inside Mexico. They would report the department of every suspicious plane to the border patrols and the planes, if spotted, might be followed by means of radar.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “Further fuel was added to the boiling Mayoralty campaign today when charges were hurled that a Tammany district leader had demanded a $1,000 contribution from a Harlem hospital to last year’s [William] O’Dwyer campaign for re-election. The charges of the attempted ‘shakedown’ immediately brought forth demands that Acting Mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri, who was a running mate of O’Dwyer last year, immediately launch an investigation.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1952, the Eagle reported, “MIAMI (U.P.) — Hurricane ‘Easy,’ the fifth big blow of the season, drifted northward today, its 100-miles-an-hour winds spreading over a 150-mile area some 2,000 miles east-southeast of Miami.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “Declaring that Allied forces in Western Europe are insufficient to defeat an all-out Soviet attack, Gen. Alfred M. Gruenther last night warned it would be ‘a tragic mistake to lower our guard now.’ The supreme Allied commander in Europe spoke at the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation charity dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria. About 2,100 persons attended. Gruenther, despite his warning, termed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization a ‘thriving success.’ He said it has sufficient strength to either slow down a surprise Russian attack to give time for massing of reserves or force the Reds to attack in such great strength that the blow would be ‘telegraphed’ and prepared for. He warned against complacency, wishful thinking, concentrating on defense of the U.S. against atom attack, ‘unbridled criticism’ of our Allies and negotiations with Russia that are not backed by sufficient military strength. Other speakers at the $100-a-plate dinner, which raised about $250,000 through sales of tickets and other donations, were Governor Dewey, Mayor Impellitteri and Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, who read a speech prepared by Francis Cardinal Spellman, who was confined to bed by a virus infection.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1964, the Brooklyn Record reported, “Guy Lombardo, the famous man of music whose baton has been seen at just about as many public events as the late Grover Whalen’s moustache, will play for the opening of the Verrazano Bridge … An elaborate opening day ceremony is being planned for November 21 when the bridge linking Brooklyn’s Belt Parkway to Staten Island will be part of New York’s arterial highway system. As a special treat, Lombardo has recorded an album of famous Italian songs and Americans of Italian descent are eagerly awaiting its being made available. It is hoped that the album will be given a special Verrazano commemorative jacket as a souvenir of the historic event. The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce is reported as planning special events in connection with the opening. Morris Kirsch, chairman of its public relations committee, discussed plans with a group of influential boroites including Borough President Abe Stark at a recent cook-out on the terrace of his Eastern Parkway apartment. With Lombardo on the podium and Robert Moses as the guiding light of the project, the event will be a tribute to masters in their respective fields. The musician and the city planner whose visions became reality make a wonderful team. They are together at the World’s Fair and at Jones Beach.”
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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Henry V” star Brian Blessed, who was born in 1936; singer-songwriter Nona Hendryx, who was born in 1944; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jackson Browne, who was born in 1948; TV personality Sharon Osbourne, who was born in 1952; “Monk” star Tony Shalhoub, who was born in 1953; “Quantum Leap” star Scott Bakula, who was born in 1954; “Seinfeld” star John O’Hurley, who was born in 1954; “Little House on the Prairie” star Linwood Boomer, who was born in 1955; Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Singletary, who was born in 1958; Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, who was born in 1964; singer-songwriter Sean Lennon, who was born in 1975; N.Y. Mets outfielder Starling Marte, who was born in 1988; and model Bella Hadid, who was born in 1996.
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GREEN DAY: The first PGA championship began on this day in 1916 at the Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, N.Y. The trophy and the lion’s share of the $2,580 purse were won by British golfer Jim Barnes. Barnes also won the second competition — not held until 1919 because of World War I. In 1921, co-founder Walter Hagen became the first American to win, a feat he accomplished four more times, from 1924-27.
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THEY SAY IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY: John Lennon was born on this day in 1940. The Liverpool native co-founded the Beatles, the sensationally popular band that took the world by storm in the 1960s. He embarked on a successful solo career in the 1970s and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, as a Beatle and as a solo artist. He was murdered outside his Manhattan apartment building on Dec. 8, 1980.
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Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.
Quotable:
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
— Rock and Roll Hall of Famer John Lennon, who was born on this day in 1940
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